A fun family Easter event that started in 2020 as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic has become an established favourite in Ashcroft, and is about to return for its sixth year.
The Community Easter Scavenger Hunt Bingo starts on Monday, March 31 and runs through Friday, April 11. Participants need to pick up (or print out) a bingo card, complete as many of the challenges on the card as they want to, then drop the cards off by 4 p.m. on April 11.
The event is open to anyone, of any age, and to individuals, couples, and families. There will be prizes for everyone who takes part, and all names will go in a draw for a special grand prize draw. Children and families will have a chance to win a family pass to the Ashcroft pool and some beach towels, while adults will be entered to win some Purdy’s chocolates.
“It’s exactly the same format as last year,” explains Jessica Clement, executive director of the HUB, which is running the event in partnership with the South Cariboo Elizabeth Fry Society.
“There are different clues, and activities to do, within the bingo card, but you don’t have to do all of them. You can just complete a line, or you can go for a blackout.”
She adds, however, that there is no prize for completing all the tasks, apart from bragging rights. “And you get kudos from us when you drop your card off.”
The challenges and clues are set in all three areas of Ashcroft, but as in the past, they will all be in plain sight of the street, so there is no need to go traipsing through yards. “All the clues are easy to spot,” promises Clement, who stayed mum about what sorts of challenges people will be expected to complete: all except two.
“Leisa and I are happy about the ‘Bring HUB staff a treat’ bingo square, and we’re wondering how many people will do that one,” she laughs. Since another challenge is “Make a treat with your family,” Clement hinted that the two could easily be combined.
About 100 children, plus some families and adults, took part in last year’s hunt, when it was run for the first time by the HUB. The event was the brainchild of Ashcroft resident Joyce Buckland, and was originally organized by the Family Friends group and sponsored by Second Time Around, the South Cariboo Elizabeth Fry Society, Interior Savings Credit Union, and the Village of Ashcroft, when it began in 2020 as a way to let kids have some fun when most normal Easter events had to be shut down because of the pandemic.
Residences and businesses around Ashcroft decorated their yards and buildings with different themes, and participants then went around town with a list of clues and tracked them down. It was something people could do on foot or in vehicles and in small groups, thus maintaining physical distancing. It proved so popular that it returned in the same format for the following three years, with more than 120 people — children, families, and adults — taking part each year.
There were some concerns that it might not be held last year, as the original organizers were unable to continue it themselves. However, the HUB stepped in and took on the event, after being approached by the E. Fry Society on behalf of the original organizers.
It’s not the first time that the HUB has stepped in to help run a popular local event in order to keep it going. Clement points to the Terry Fox Run, the Santa Parade, the Kinsmen Christmas turkey bingo, and Skip’s Run (the last two in partnership with the Ashcroft and District Lions Club) as examples of other times the HUB has helped keep local traditions alive.
“We’re here to serve the community in whatever capacity we can,” she says. “We’re absolutely open to being able to continue traditions and events within the community when other organizations aren’t able to.”
Bingo cards can be picked up starting on March 31 from the Ashcroft HUB or from the dropbox outside the Journal office on 4th Street in Ashcroft. The cards will also be available online for people to print off themselves: visit the Ashcroft Hub Facebook page, or the HUB website at https://www.ashcrofthub.com/. Completed cards can be dropped off at any time between March 31 and April 11 at the HUB and the Journal office.
